The saddest girl in the whole entire world

(my cat Kiriona, when she asked me to pet her and i didn't do so immediately)

weeping because way back in book 1, in chapter 1 all the way back on page 22, Gideon says that no one on the Ninth had ever loved her, not even Aiglamene, and the idea that she had been loved would be ridiculous. and then in book 3 we return to the Ninth and Aiglamene saw that Gideon was dead and she was. furious. she was furious with Harrow. everyone else was ready to kiss Harrow's feet and Aiglamene was ready to tear into the fucking Revered Daughter right there in public, until Gideon stopped her. do you think she told Harrow to bring Gideon back alive? do you think, before they left for Canaan House, Aiglamene sat Harrow down and told her whatever the fuck happens out there, that she cannot let any harm come to Gideon Nav?

baby Gideon needed the kind of tender loving care that no one on the Ninth was capable of giving her. this is a fact. but I believe Aiglamene DID, and DOES still love her. Aiglamene petitioned to give her the sword. she saw Gideon fighting against the strictures of the Ninth House and she understood that Gideon would never be a nun or a penitent. she spent hours and hours and hours with her training and teaching and giving Gideon the only kind of love she knew how to give. she wouldn't have done that if she didn't love her. fuck.

Finally did some Nona the Ninth sketches (only months after I finished the book)! Noodle is my absolute favourite and Nona is My Girl!! 

Some Kiriona, first doodles in a long while

two very princely princes

Unhinged tlt theories until I get Alecto news: day 3

Somewhere in the deep archives of the Sixth is a copy of the King James Bible. Specifically that one — no one’s quite sure who King James is, but the Bible is one of the greatest novels ever written, depicting metaphors. Every child studies it to learn metaphor — they’re pretty sure that Jesus is a metaphor for the Resurrection, and the apostles are the cavaliers. Maybe Jesus is a necromancer, they aren’t sure.

Of course, when Kiriona showed up, it turned into an academic disaster, every theory they ever had about Jesus is thrown into to flux, a generation of scholars are pissed to have to redo all of their projects, and suddenly maybe Jesus is a metaphor for the intense power held by the Tower Prince. But then what does that make the apostles? The houses? The cohort? They aren’t really sure.

John finds this entire situation hilarious and sends them a file box of Jesus Rock, pamphlets from other sects, and a different Bible. This is the greatest mystery of the millennia

Tower Prince Kiriona Gaia

Tower Prince Kiriona Gaia the First, her Divine Highness, First Lieutenant of the Cohort, Emperor’s Life Guard and saddest girl in the whole entire world

the gorls and noodle

top 10 nona quotes to eat sand to

On the permeability of the soul

People seem to ignore the fact that Lyctorhood isn't the only thing that can result in imprints in the soul. Being in someone else's body seems to make a huge impact. Ianthe and Pyrrha both speak of memories that weren't theirs, but belonged to their hosts. Nona has no reason to kiss Gideon, but she is in Harrow's body. Also, it is difficult to figure out what is permeability and what is not with Gideon and Harrow. I would say the whole 'five necromancy facts' isn't permeability, but instead either Gideon asking Jod about necromancy to impress Harrow when they next meet, or learned the facts from Harrow in Canaan House and remembered them to impress Harrow.

So much of gideons life was a whole lot of build up and a disappointing climax.. she always wanted to be in the cohort but it was nothing like she thought.. she wanted to sacrifice herself for harrow but harrow wouldn't let her .. she wanted to die but she couldn't... she wanted parents but they were shit ... she wanted to be important in the world but it didn't give her the satisfaction she thought it would... she wanted to kill crux but it didn't change how sad she was .. idk where I'm going with this but Yeah.

EDIT: OH MY FUCKINF GOD I JUST REALISED ITS BECAUSE OF HARROW. Gideon has everything she's ever wanted: status, a position in the cohort, a parent. But there's something missing, something she's always had up until now, and that's harrow's attention. The saddest girl in the universe is only that way because she has everything she's ever wanted but it means nothing without harrow ...

that bit in the bible where jesus goes round and asks everyone to finger his various crussies (crucifixion pussies) but make it kiriona getting everyone to shove their hands into her speed holes to see what happens send post

spending all of Harrow the Ninth drowning in Harrow's grief and seeing the gaping maw that Gideon's death has rent into her whole existance, and then getting smacked in the face by Nona the Ninth and the apperance of Kiriona Gaia and realizing that Gideon really just does not know. Gideon does not fucking know how much Harrow loves her. Gideon thinks she was abandoned and thrown away and that she gave her life for nothing and based on the information she has avalible to her that is like, a totally reasonable assumption.

head in hands i understand why she wanted to become Kiriona. she spent her childhood being told she was nothing and no one, abused by everyone who could have shown her care. she learned that she was created only to be a bomb. the one thing she had was Harrow. and then she felt like Harrow abandoned her, threw her away like trash. just like everyone else. fuck. no wonder she wants to just be the Daughter of God. no wonder she shed her name, given to her by the Ninth that hated her and the Mother that only created her for slaughter. no wonder she wants to reject everything that had rejected her. fuck.

Don’t know if this has any bearing on the actual narrative of The Locked Tomb, but Ianthe and Kiriona’s “Tower Princes” title reminds me of the historical “Princes in the Tower.” In the 1400s, a couple of princes were kept in the Tower of London by their uncle, supposedly for their protection, until the coronation of the oldest prince. Unfortunately, they disappeared, with much speculation about if they had been murdered and if so, who was the culprit. At one point, two skeletons were found under a staircase in the tower and have long been assumed to be the bones of the two ill-fated boys, though it hasn’t been proven.

The Princes in the Tower also play a role in Shakespeare’s play “Richard III.” Tamsyn framed both GtN and HtN as plays. And then what happens at the end of NtN? Everyone starts speaking in what sounds like Shakespearean English. It just raises questions, that’s all I’m saying. The choice of tower princes is so interesting because traditionally the tower princes are seen as fairly helpless victims. They were children after all, who were murdered by someone hungry for their power. I mean so much potential symbolic significance there in terms of innocence, death, and power. It will be especially interesting to see how this may factor into Ianthe’s narrative arc, because I’m hoping her arc is going to be especially explosive and intriguing in AtN. Excited to see how this plays out!

And you can sleep in a coffin, but the past ain't through with you Cause we are all a bunch of liars, tell me, baby, who do you wanna be?

THEY MAKE EACH OTHER WORSE!!!!!